AN INTERVIEW WITH THE UNSTUCK GROUP ON CHURCH MERGERS
In the summer of 2016, God led the church that I was pastoring (The Gathering) and Liberty Church to bring our churches together for the sake of God’s work in our city. By God’s grace, His hand was upon us from our very first Sunday and we are so grateful that we took this step of faith together. Here is an interview I did with the Unstuck Group about our merger and what we learned along the way: https://theunstuckgroup.com/church-merger/
Unstuck: What led you to decide to merge?
Brad: I founded The Gathering Church in 2006. We had been mobile for almost 10 years before the merger and looking for a permanent location. Liberty Church had a pastor nearing retirement age and was in need of a fresh wave of Millennials and young families. We decided to merge and create a new beginning as Anthem Church because we saw God’s provision for our independent prayers in one another and had a strong belief that we would be better together.
Unstuck: What was the most challenging aspect of merging?
Brad: While our merger has been incredibly successful and we feel great joy about what God has done, we have learned that bringing two churches together is incredibly challenging. I would say that the most challenging aspect is merging two different cultures, two different ways of doing ministry, and two different relational circles. All three of those challenges have caused us to carefully journey through our opening 18 months together.
Unstuck: What has been the most impactful lesson you have learned through this process?
Brad: Leadership is all about trust. I have worked very hard to earn the trust of the great people of Liberty Church so they can follow me into the future. Earning trust has required getting a few wins under our belts in ministry and listening closely to the needs and concerns of the people during the transition. When people believe in the vision and trust its leaders they find it much easier to walk boldly into the future together.
Unstuck: What should other pastors know about this journey if they are considering a merger?
Brad: It is critically important that both churches have a very similar DNA and they seek the advice of others who have led mergers in the past. We read extensively and sought the counsel of Jim Tomberlin (author of Better Together) very early in the process. Fortunately, both Liberty Church and The Gathering Church had very similar DNA (theologically and ministry philosophy), but we still had our own differences to work through. If our DNA had been more different, I don’t believe we would have had such a successful merger.
Unstuck: How did engaging our team fit in?
While we were already 6 months into our merger, The Unstuck Group helped us to clarify the highest priorities for us to focus on in the midst of so much change. This was critical with the merging of two staffs, the merging of two congregations, and the merging of two ministry philosophies. We aren’t there yet, but we are headed in the right direction and we highly value the guidance.
UNSTUCK: What are some of the results your church is now celebrating?
Brad: We are now almost eighteen months into our merger and we’ve seen 142 people make decisions to give their life to Jesus for the first time or rededicate their life to him! That is what we are celebrating the most!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If I can be of help on this topic, I occassionally offer to coach pastors on topics related to church planting and church mergers. As well, our merger was discussed in Better Together by Jim Tomberlin. This is the best resource I know of on the topic of mergers and church multiplication. https://www.amazon.com/Better-Together-Mergers-Expanded-Updated/dp/1506463355/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=1506463355&psc=1